Determining to use multi-ran interworking by correlating different ran identifiers

ABSTRACT

Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide a method for confirming identity of a user equipment (UE) registered in both a wireless local area network (WLAN) and WWAN. A method is provided for wireless communications by a base station (BS). The method generally includes establishing communications with a first UE, wherein the UE is identified by a first set of one or more identifiers in a wide area wireless network (WWAN) and by a second set of one or more identifiers in a wide local area network (WLAN), and determining, based on the first and second set of identifiers, a UE connected to the WWAN and WLAN is the first UE

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation application of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 14/158,915, filed Jan. 20, 2014, which claims thebenefit of U.S. Provisional Patent application Ser. No. 61/755,505,filed Jan. 23, 2013, both which are herein incorporated by reference intheir entirety.

BACKGROUND Field

Aspects of the present disclosure relate generally to wirelesscommunications, and more particularly, to techniques for determining touse Long Term Evolution (LTE) and wireless local area network (WLAN) atthe radio access network (RAN) at the user equipment (UE) and network bycorrelating LTE and WLAN identifiers.

Background

Wireless communication networks are widely deployed to provide variouscommunication content such as voice, video, packet data, messaging,broadcast, etc. These wireless networks may be multiple-access networkscapable of supporting multiple users by sharing the available networkresources. Examples of such multiple-access networks include codedivision multiple access (CDMA) networks, time division multiple access(TDMA) networks, frequency division multiple access (FDMA) networks,orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA) networks, and single-carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA)networks.

A user equipment (UE) may be located within the coverage of multiplewireless networks, which may support different communication services. Asuitable wireless network may be selected to serve the UE based on oneor more criteria. The selected wireless network may be unable to providea desired communication service (e.g., voice service) for the UE. A setof procedures may then be performed to redirect the UE to anotherwireless network (e.g., 2G, 3G or non-LTE 4G) that can provide thedesired communication service.

SUMMARY

Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide a method for wirelesscommunications by a base station. The method generally includesestablishing communications with a first user equipment (UE), whereinthe UE is identified by a first set of one or more identifiers in a widearea wireless network (WWAN) and by a second set of one or moreidentifiers in a wide local area network (WLAN) and determining, basedon the first and second set of identifiers, a UE connected to the WWANand WLAN is the first UE.

Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide a method for wirelesscommunications by a user equipment. The method generally includesestablishing communications with a wide area wireless network (WWAN) anda wide local area network (WLAN), wherein the UE is identified by afirst set of one or more identifiers in the WWAN and by a second set ofone or more identifiers in the WLAN and providing, when establishingcommunications with a first one of the WWAN or WLAN, a set ofidentifiers allowing the other of the WWAN or WLAN to identify the UE.

Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide an apparatus forsecure wireless communications by a first base station. The apparatusgenerally includes means for establishing communications with a firstUE, wherein the UE is identified by a first set of one or moreidentifiers in a wide area wireless network (WWAN) and by a second setof one or more identifiers in a wide local area network (WLAN) and meansfor determining, based on the first and second set of identifiers, a UEconnected to the WWAN and WLAN is the first UE.

Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide an apparatus forsecure wireless communications by a first base station. The apparatusgenerally includes at least one processor configured to establishcommunications with a first UE, wherein the UE is identified by a firstset of one or more identifiers in a wide area wireless network (WWAN)and by a second set of one or more identifiers in a wide local areanetwork (WLAN) and determine, based on the first and second set ofidentifiers, a UE connected to the WWAN and WLAN is the first UE. Theapparatus also includes a memory coupled to the at least one processor.

Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide a computer programproduct for secure wireless communications by a first base station. Thecomputer program product generally includes a computer readable mediumhaving instructions stored thereon, the instructions executable by oneor more processors for establishing communications with a first UE,wherein the UE is identified by a first set of one or more identifiersin a wide area wireless network (WWAN) and by a second set of one ormore identifiers in a wide local area network (WLAN) and determining,based on the first and second set of identifiers, a UE connected to theWWAN and WLAN is the first UE.

Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide an apparatus forsecure wireless communications by a UE. The apparatus generally includesmeans for establishing communications with a wide area wireless network(WWAN) and a wide local area network (WLAN), wherein the UE isidentified by a first set of one or more identifiers in the WWAN and bya second set of one or more identifiers in the WLAN and means forproviding, when establishing communications with a first one of the WWANor WLAN, a set of identifiers allowing the other of the WWAN or WLAN toidentify the UE.

Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide an apparatus forsecure wireless communications by a UE. The apparatus generally includesat least one processor configured to establish communications with awide area wireless network (WWAN) and a wide local area network (WLAN),wherein the UE is identified by a first set of one or more identifiersin the WWAN and by a second set of one or more identifiers in the WLANand provide, when establishing communications with a first one of theWWAN or WLAN, a set of identifiers allowing the other of the WWAN orWLAN to identify the UE. The apparatus also includes a memory coupled tothe at least one processor.

Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide a computer programproduct for secure wireless communications by a UE. The computer programgenerally includes a computer readable medium having instructions storedthereon, the instructions executable by one or more processors forestablishing communications with a wide area wireless network (WWAN) anda wide local area network (WLAN), wherein the UE is identified by afirst set of one or more identifiers in the WWAN and by a second set ofone or more identifiers in the WLAN and providing, when establishingcommunications with a first one of the WWAN or WLAN, a set ofidentifiers allowing the other of the WWAN or WLAN to identify the UE.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

So that the manner in which the above-recited features of the presentdisclosure can be understood in detail, a more particular description,briefly summarized above, may be had by reference to aspects, some ofwhich are illustrated in the appended drawings. It is to be noted,however, that the appended drawings illustrate only certain typicalaspects of this disclosure and are therefore not to be consideredlimiting of its scope, for the description may admit to other equallyeffective aspects.

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary deployment in which multiple wirelessnetworks have overlapping coverage.

FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of a user equipment (UE) and othernetwork entities.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example architecture for wireless local areanetwork (WLAN) to aggregation using separate EPS bearers terminating,according to certain aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example user plane, according to certain aspectsof the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 illustrates example architecture for WLAN interworking usingseparate EPS bearers terminating at the CN, according to certain aspectsof the present disclosure.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example reference architecture for non-seamlessmobility using separate EPS bearers, according to certain aspects of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example Ethernet media access control (MAC) frame,according to certain aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 8 illustrates an example Ethernet MAC frame including a header,according to certain aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 9 illustrates an example user plane with WLAN, according to certainaspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 10 illustrates an example eNB to WLAN AP association procedure overradio resource control (RRC), according to certain aspects of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 11 illustrates example operations for secure wirelesscommunications by a base station (BS), according to certain aspects ofthe present disclosure.

FIG. 12 illustrates example operations for secure wirelesscommunications by a UE, according to certain aspects of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 13 illustrates example call flow for eNB initiated RRC UEcapability handling procedures, according to certain aspects of thepresent disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The detailed description set forth below, in connection with theappended drawings, is intended as a description of variousconfigurations and is not intended to represent the only configurationsin which the concepts described herein may be practiced. The detaileddescription includes specific details for providing a thoroughunderstanding of the various concepts. However, it will be apparent tothose skilled in the art that these concepts may be practiced withoutthese specific details. In some instances, well-known structures andcomponents are shown in block diagram form in order to avoid obscuringsuch concepts.

The techniques described herein may be used for various wirelesscommunication networks such as code division multiple access (CDMA),time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access(FDMA), orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA), single carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA) and othernetworks. The terms “network” and “system” are often usedinterchangeably. A CDMA network may implement a radio access technology(RAT) such as universal terrestrial radio access (UTRA), cdma2000, etc.UTRA includes wideband CDMA (WCDMA) and other variants of CDMA. cdma2000covers IS-2000, IS-95 and IS-856 standards. IS-2000 is also referred toas 1× radio transmission technology (1×RTT), CDMA2000 1×, etc. A TDMAnetwork may implement a RAT such as global system for mobilecommunications (GSM), enhanced data rates for GSM evolution (EDGE), orGSM/EDGE radio access network (GERAN). An OFDMA network may implement aRAT such as evolved UTRA (E-UTRA), ultra mobile broadband (UMB), IEEE802.11 (Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX), IEEE 802.20, Flash-OFDM®, etc. UTRAand E-UTRA are part of universal mobile telecommunication system (UMTS).3GPP long-term evolution (LTE) and LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) are new releasesof UMTS that use E-UTRA, which employs OFDMA on the downlink and SC-FDMAon the uplink. UTRA, E-UTRA, UMTS, LTE, LTE-A and GSM are described indocuments from an organization named “3rd Generation PartnershipProject” (3GPP). cdma2000 and UMB are described in documents from anorganization named “3rd Generation Partnership Project 2” (3GPP2). Thetechniques described herein may be used for the wireless networks andRATs mentioned above as well as other wireless networks and RATs.

Circuit-switched fallback (CSFB) is a technique to delivervoice-services to a mobile, when the mobile is camped in a long-termevolution (LTE) network. This may be required when the LTE network doesnot support voice services natively. The LTE network and a 3GPP CSnetwork (e.g., UMTS or GSM) may be connected using a tunnel interface.The user equipment (UE) may register with the 3GPP CS network while onthe LTE network by exchanging messages with the 3GPP CS core networkover the tunnel interface.

FIG. 1 shows an exemplary deployment in which multiple wireless networkshave overlapping coverage. An evolved universal terrestrial radio accessnetwork (E-UTRAN) 120 may support LTE and may include a number ofevolved Node Bs (eNBs) 122 and other network entities that can supportwireless communication for user equipments 110 (UEs). Each eNB 122 mayprovide communication coverage for a particular geographic area. Theterm “cell” can refer to a coverage area of an eNB 122 and/or an eNBsubsystem serving this coverage area. A serving gateway (S-GW) 124 maycommunicate with E-UTRAN 120 and may perform various functions such aspacket routing and forwarding, mobility anchoring, packet buffering,initiation of network-triggered services, etc. A mobility managemententity (MME) 126 may communicate with E-UTRAN 120 and serving gateway124 and may perform various functions such as mobility management,bearer management, distribution of paging messages, security control,authentication, gateway selection, etc. The network entities in LTE aredescribed in 3GPP TS 36.300, entitled “Evolved Universal TerrestrialRadio Access (E-UTRA) and Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio AccessNetwork (E-UTRAN) 120; Overall description,” which is publiclyavailable.

A radio access network (RAN) 130 may support GSM and may include anumber of base stations 132 and other network entities that can supportwireless communication for UEs 110. A mobile switching center (MSC) 134may communicate with the RAN 130 and may support voice services, providerouting for circuit-switched calls, and perform mobility management forUEs 110 located within the area served by MSC 134. Optionally, aninter-working function (IWF) 140 may facilitate communication betweenMME 126 and MSC 134 (e.g., for 1×CSFB).

E-UTRAN 120, serving gateway 124, and MME 126 may be part of an LTEnetwork 102. RAN 130 and MSC 134 may be part of a GSM network 104. Forsimplicity, FIG. 1 shows only some network entities in the LTE network102 and the GSM network 104. The LTE and GSM networks may also includeother network entities that may support various functions and services.

In general, any number of wireless networks may be deployed in a givengeographic area. Each wireless network may support a particular RAT andmay operate on one or more frequencies. A RAT may also be referred to asa radio technology, an air interface, etc. A frequency may also bereferred to as a carrier, a frequency channel, etc. Each frequency maysupport a single RAT in a given geographic area in order to avoidinterference between wireless networks of different RATs.

A UE 110 may be stationary or mobile and may also be referred to as amobile station, a terminal, an access terminal, a subscriber unit, astation, etc. UE 110 may be a cellular phone, a personal digitalassistant (PDA), a wireless modem, a wireless communication device, ahandheld device, a laptop computer, a cordless phone, a wireless localloop (WLL) station, etc.

Upon power up, UE 110 may search for wireless networks from which it canreceive communication services. If more than one wireless network isdetected, then a wireless network with the highest priority may beselected to serve UE 110 and may be referred to as the serving network.UE 110 may perform registration with the serving network, if necessary.UE 110 may then operate in a connected mode to actively communicate withthe serving network. Alternatively, UE 110 may operate in an idle modeand camp on the serving network if active communication is not requiredby UE 110.

UE 110 may be located within the coverage of cells of multiplefrequencies and/or multiple RATs while in the idle mode. For LTE, UE 110may select a frequency and a RAT to camp on based on a priority list.This priority list may include a set of frequencies, a RAT associatedwith each frequency, and a priority of each frequency. For example, thepriority list may include three frequencies X, Y and Z. Frequency X maybe used for LTE and may have the highest priority, frequency Y may beused for GSM and may have the lowest priority, and frequency Z may alsobe used for GSM and may have medium priority. In general, the prioritylist may include any number of frequencies for any set of RATs and maybe specific for the UE location. UE 110 may be configured to prefer LTE,when available, by defining the priority list with LTE frequencies atthe highest priority and with frequencies for other RATs at lowerpriorities, e.g., as given by the example above.

UE 110 may operate in the idle mode as follows. UE 110 may identify allfrequencies/RATs on which it is able to find a “suitable” cell in anormal scenario or an “acceptable” cell in an emergency scenario, where“suitable” and “acceptable” are specified in the LTE standards. UE 110may then camp on the frequency/RAT with the highest priority among allidentified frequencies/RATs. UE 110 may remain camped on thisfrequency/RAT until either (i) the frequency/RAT is no longer availableat a predetermined threshold or (ii) another frequency/RAT with a higherpriority reaches this threshold. This operating behavior for UE 110 inthe idle mode is described in 3GPP TS 36.304, entitled “EvolvedUniversal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA); UE procedures in idlemode,” which is publicly available.

UE 110 may be able to receive packet-switched (PS) data services fromLTE network 102 and may camp on the LTE network while in the idle mode.LTE network 102 may have limited or no support for voice-over-Internetprotocol (VoIP), which may often be the case for early deployments ofLTE networks. Due to the limited VoIP support, UE 110 may be transferredto another wireless network of another RAT for voice calls. Thistransfer may be referred to as circuit-switched (CS) fallback. UE 110may be transferred to a RAT that can support voice service such as1×RTT, WCDMA, GSM, etc. For call origination with CS fallback, UE 110may initially become connected to a wireless network of a source RAT(e.g., LTE) that may not support voice service. The UE may originate avoice call with this wireless network and may be transferred throughhigher-layer signaling to another wireless network of a target RAT thatcan support the voice call. The higher-layer signaling to transfer theUE to the target RAT may be for various procedures, e.g., connectionrelease with redirection, PS handover, etc.

FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of a design of UE 110, eNB 122, and MME 126in FIG. 1. At UE 110, an encoder 212 may receive traffic data andsignaling messages to be sent on the uplink. Encoder 212 may process(e.g., format, encode, and interleave) the traffic data and signalingmessages. A modulator (Mod) 214 may further process (e.g., symbol mapand modulate) the encoded traffic data and signaling messages andprovide output samples. A transmitter (TMTR) 222 may condition (e.g.,convert to analog, filter, amplify, and frequency upconvert) the outputsamples and generate an uplink signal, which may be transmitted via anantenna 224 to eNB 122.

On the downlink, antenna 224 may receive downlink signals transmitted byeNB 122 and/or other eNBs 122/base stations 132. A receiver (RCVR) 226may condition (e.g., filter, amplify, frequency downconvert, anddigitize) the received signal from antenna 224 and provide inputsamples. A demodulator (Demod) 216 may process (e.g., demodulate) theinput samples and provide symbol estimates. A decoder 218 may process(e.g., deinterleave and decode) the symbol estimates and provide decodeddata and signaling messages sent to UE 110. Encoder 212, modulator 214,demodulator 216, and decoder 218 may be implemented by a modem processor210. These units may perform processing in accordance with the RAT(e.g., LTE, 1×RTT, etc.) used by the wireless network with which UE 110is in communication.

A controller/processor 230 may direct the operation at UE 110.Controller/processor 230 may also perform or direct other processes forthe techniques described herein. Controller/processor 230 may alsoperform or direct the processing by UE 110 in FIGS. 3 and 4. Memory 232may store program codes and data for UE 110. Memory 232 may also store apriority list and configuration information.

At eNB 122, a transmitter/receiver 238 may support radio communicationwith UE 110 and other UEs. A controller/processor 240 may performvarious functions for communication with the UEs. On the uplink, theuplink signal from UE 110 may be received via an antenna 236,conditioned by receiver 238, and further processed bycontroller/processor 240 to recover the traffic data and signalingmessages sent by UE 110. On the downlink, traffic data and signalingmessages may be processed by controller/processor 240 and conditioned bytransmitter 238 to generate a downlink signal, which may be transmittedvia antenna 236 to UE 110 and other UEs. Controller/processor 240 mayalso perform or direct other processes for the techniques describedherein. Controller/processor 240 may also perform or direct theprocessing by eNB 122 in FIGS. 3 and 4. Memory 242 may store programcodes and data for the base station 132. A communication (Comm) unit 244may support communication with MME 126 and/or other network entities.

At MME 126, a controller/processor 250 may perform various functions tosupport communication services for UEs. Controller/processor 250 mayalso perform or direct the processing by MME 126 in FIGS. 3 and 4.Memory 252 may store program codes and data for MME 126. A communicationunit 254 may support communication with other network entities.

FIG. 2 shows simplified designs of UE 110, eNB 122, and MME 126. Ingeneral, each entity may include any number of transmitters, receivers,processors, controllers, memories, communication units, etc. Othernetwork entities may also be implemented in similar manner.

Example Techniques for Determining to Use Multi-RAN Interworking byCorrelating Different RAN Identifiers

Aspects of the present disclosure provide techniques that may allowconfirmation that a user equipment (UE) registered in one radio accessnetwork (RAN) is the same UE (e.g., wireless local area network (WLAN))is the same UE also registered in another RAN by correlating IDs of thedifferent RANs. For example, the techniques may be used to confirm adevice registered in a WLAN network is the same as device registered inan LTE network.

Aggregation using separate Evolved Packet System (EPS) bearers thatterminate at the radio access network (RAN). FIG. 3 illustrates anexample architecture for WLAN to aggregation using separate EPS bearersterminating, according to certain aspects of the present disclosure. Asseen in FIG. 3, a UE 110 may use separate EPS bearers at the corenetwork (CN) 302, for example the eNB 122 and WLAN AP, i.e. the existingEPS bearers are uniquely mapped to be served by either the eNB 122 orthe WLAN AP 306 serving the UE 110.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example UE packet data network (PDN) gateway(UE-PGW) user plane. As seen in FIG. 4, the user plane between the UE110 and PGW 308 for WLAN has aggregation using separate EPS bearersterminating at the RAN 130, for example, the UE 110 sends the bearers onthe Wi-Fi AP. DL data is received at the Packet Data Network Gateway(PGW) 308 and separated into different EPS bearers and forwarded eitherto the eNB 122 or the AP 306.

For S2a-based Mobility over GTP (SaMOG), the UL data is received at theeNB 122 and the AP 306, forwarded to the PGW 402 in the appropriate EPSbearer, and S2a tunneled. For S1 bearer-based session continuity, the ULdata received at the eNB 122 and AP 306 is forwarded to the SGW and PGW402 in the appropriate EPS bearer (i.e., the AP 306 reuses the EPSbearer to forward the traffic).

FIG. 5 illustrates an example architecture for WLAN interworking usingseparate EPS bearers terminating at the CN 302 defined by MAPCON, IFOMand SaMOG in Rel-9, Rel-10 and Rel-12, respectively. As seen in FIG. 5,the UE 110 sends the flows corresponding to some bearers via the 3GPPaccess (as indicated as flow 502) and other bearers via the Wi-Fi AP (asindicated as flow 504). For simplicity, the additional architecturalelements of an ePDG between the AP and the PGW 308 for S2b are notshown.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example architecture for non-seamless mobility,according to certain aspects of the present disclosure. As seen in FIG.6, the traffic sent via the eNB may use separate PDN connections and EPSbearers terminating at the CN 302 to go to the Internet, whereas thetraffic sent via WLAN is sent directly to the internet. For example, theUE 110 may use a different IP address at the eNB 122 and at the Wi-Fi AP306. Multipath TCP is an example of such aggregation.

According to certain aspects, the EPS bearer associated with an RLCpacket in Long Term Evolution (LTE) is currently only in the MediaAccess Control (MAC) header in LTE. As such, for both bearer and packetaggregation in WLAN, the UE 110 and AP need to indicate the logicalchannel identifier (LC ID) for the EPS bearer in the WLAN MAC header ifmore than one bearer is sent in WLAN.

In some embodiments, such MAC headers may be EtherType. EtherType maybe, for example, a 2 byte field in an Ethernet frame used to indicatewhich protocol is encapsulated in the Payload of an Ethernet Frame. Thefield within the Ethernet frame used to describe the EtherType also canbe used to represent the size of the payload of the Ethernet Frame.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example Ethernet MAC frame 700 including the 2byte EtherType 702 field. 802.11Q is a 4 byte field in an Ethernetframe. The 802.11Q header consists of the following fields: Tag ProtocolIdentifier (TPID) having 2 bytes set to a value of 0x8100 to identifythe frame as an IEEE 802.1Q-tagged frame used to distinguish the framefrom untagged frames; Tag Control Identifier (TCI) having 4 bits toindicate priority (0-7) and whether the packet may be dropped; and VLANIdentifier (VID) having a 12-bit field specifying the VLAN to which theframe belongs. FIG. 8 illustrates an example alternative Ethernet MACframe 800 including the 802.11Q 4-byte header.

In certain scenarios, the UE 110 may need to know the identity ofLTE/UMTS cells and WLAN APs where RAN 130 and WLAN interworking canoccur (e.g., which combinations of LTE/UMTS cells and WLAN APs can beused for LTE and WLAN interworking). On the other hand, the network mayneed to know the corresponding identity of the UE 110 in each type ofRAN access (e.g., to correlate the presence of a UE across the WLAN andthe cellular access). For example, this may be used to distinguish amongdifferent UEs using RAN 130 and WLAN interworking as well as for each UE110 in order to correctly route the traffic.

Aspects of the present disclosure provide techniques and variousapparatus that may help correlate WLAN and WWAN identifiers to determineWLAN and WWAN interworking capability.

FIG. 9 illustrates an example architecture 900 of a UE-PGW user planewith WLAN, in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure.The UE-PGW user plane has aggregation using separate EPS bearers at theRAN 130 and an additional layer to identify the EPS bearers. In analternative solution, an LC ID 902 in WLAN may be indicated by includingan additional header sent over the WLAN to identify the EPS bearer asshown in FIG. 9. The LC ID 902 may be maintained at the AP/enB 122. Forexample, the UE 110 and AP/eNB 122 may include an additional header suchas GRE to indicate the associated bearer.

As an example, an LC ID in WLAN may be indicated using an existing fieldin the WLAN MAC header as shown in FIG. 9. For example, the UE and APmay use the VLAN tag in the WLAN MAC header to indicate the associatedbearer.

In some embodiments, the network may determine that the same UE 110connects on WLAN and WWAN. A base station 132 may establish acommunication with a UE 110 that is identified by a set of identifiersusing a WWAN radio. The base station 132 may then establish acommunication with a UE 110 that is identified by a different set ofidentifiers using a WLAN radio. The base station 132 may then determinethat the UE 110 is the same UE 110, based on the two sets ofidentifiers.

In order to determine to whether RAN 130 and WLAN interworking isavailable there are two steps needed: initiating LTE/UMTS and WLANinterworking (e.g., determining at the network and UE 110 to start theRAN 130 and WLAN interworking), and determining how to distinguishbetween EPS bearers at WLAN in order to correctly identify the DLtraffic at the UE 110 and place the UL traffic into the correct S1bearer on the UL.

As noted previously, for initiating RAN 130 and WLAN interworking, theUE 110 may need to know the corresponding identity of LTE/UMTS cells andWLAN APs where the RAN 130 and WLAN interworking can occur (e.g., whichcombinations of LTE/UMTS cells and WLAN APs can be used for RAN and WLANinterworking. Similarly, the network needs to know the correspondingidentity of the UE 110 in each access (e.g., to correlate the presenceof a UE 110 across the WLAN and the cellular access). For example, thismay be needed in order to be able to distinguish among different UEsusing RAN 130 and WLAN interworking as well as for each UE 110 in orderto correctly route the traffic.

The above exchange of capabilities and identities are needed since theidentifiers for the UE 110 used in WLAN (such as IEEE 48 bit MAC ID) aredifferent from the identifiers used by the UE 110 in, for example, LTE(e.g., Cell Radio Network Temporary Identifier/Identification (C-RNTI)or Global Unique Temporary Identifier/Identification (GUTI)). Therefore,the UE 110 may need to either send the eNB 122 the WLAN MAC address orequivalent to be used or send the WLAN AP 306 the C-RNTI or GUTI orequivalent to be used.

In some embodiments, the association may be network initiated. The UE110 may indicate to the network that the UE 110 supports RAN 130 andWLAN interworking as a capability. The network then indicates to the UE110 to access either the LTE/UMTS or WLAN access, including a cell or APidentifier of the corresponding access, to initiate the RAN 130 and WLANinterworking procedures. The UE 110 capability may be indicated bysignaling as part of the access in radio resource control (RRC), via nonaccess stratum (NAS), via higher layer signaling or as part of the UE110 subscription information. Higher layer signalling may use UDP or TCPtransport protocols over the Internet Protocol. Alternatively, the UE110 identity and capability may be signalled in WLAN, for example, usinga vendor specific extension in the association procedure.

In some embodiments, indication that the UE 110 supports LTE and WLANinterworking capability may be provided as part of establishingcommunication. Alternatively, the indication that the UE 110 supportsLTE and WLAN interworking capability may be provided as a part of aregistration with the WWAN network, for example, in the Attach orTracking Area Update (TAU) procedures.

The network indication may occur, via signaling such as radio resourcecontrol (RRC), for example, when the connection is established, or inWLAN, for example, as part of vendor specific signalling or IP layersignalling. As a part of the network indication, the RRC or WLANsignalling may indicate the WLAN BSSID, or RAN cell ID respectively tothe UE, i.e., the RAN 130 or WLAN access indicates to the UE 110 theidentity of the corresponding AP or (e)NB at which the RAN 130 and WLANinterworking procedures apply. Alternatively, various other types ofidentifiers may be used for WLAN.

For LTE, the eNB cell ID, tracking area, PCI, CSG ID, or some otheridentifier may be used to determine the corresponding LTE cellassociated with the WLAN interworking. For UMTS, the NB cell ID, routingarea, PSC, CSG ID or some other identifier can be used to determine thecorresponding UMTS cell associated with the WLAN interworking.

In some embodiments, the association may be UE initiated. The networkmay advertise, for example, in a system information block (SIB) or RRC(e.g., LTE/UMTS) or Probe Response (e.g., WLAN) that RAN 130 and WLANinterworking is supported. When the UE 110 accesses either on RAN 130 orWLAN, the UE 110 may request to use the RAN 130 and WLAN interworkingprocedures.

The network advertisement may include a capability or an identifier ofthe corresponding WLAN BSSID(s), or cell ID(s) where the RAN 130 andWLAN interworking is supported. Alternatively, one of the otheridentifiers for the RAN 130 and WLAN as described above may be used.

The UE request may be indicated as part of the LTE access in RRC, viaNAS, via higher layer signaling, or as part of the WLAN associationprocedures.

Determining the corresponding identity of the UE in each access may beUE provided or network provided. In some embodiments, when the UErequests access in RRC, via NAS, or as part of the WLAN associationprocedures, the UE request may include an identifier of the UE in thecorresponding access. For example, the UE request in WLAN may indicatethe CRNTI being currently used in LTE or the GUTI of the UE. Similarly,the UE request in LTE/UMTS may indicate the network access identifier(NAI) or the IEEE 48-bit MAC address of the UE used in WLAN. In eithercase, security procedures such as integrity protection may be used toconfirm the UE's identity matches in the other access, e.g., through theuse of the EAPOL signalling in WLAN as part of the associationprocedure.

In some embodiments, when the network indicates to the UE to accessWLAN, the network may provide the WLAN AP with the UE identifier thatwill be used, and/or shared, over the backhaul connection. For example,if the network knows the MAC ID of the UE or some other credential thatwill be provided to WLAN as part of the access procedures, the identitycan be passed to WLAN or, conversely, so the AP 306 and eNB 122 can mapthe UE accessing the WLAN to the corresponding UE in LTE/UMTS or the UEin LTE/UMTS to the UE in WLAN. Alternatively, the WLAN may provide theUE with a CRNTI to use as part of a handover procedure to LTE similar tohow CRNTI is provided today between the source and target cells in a LTEhandover.

The mapping between the LC ID included in WLAN to the corresponding LCID in EPS may be determined using dynamic or fixed mapping. For dynamicmapping, the corresponding LC ID WLAN to EPS bearer mapping may benegotiated either when the UE connects to WLAN, or in the RRC commandsent by the eNB 122 to go to WLAN 306. For fixed mapping, a fixedmapping may use the same LC ID in WLAN as EPS.

In some embodiments, the network may instruct the UE to establishcommunications in response to receiving the indication the UE supportsLTE and WLAN interworking. In some embodiments, the indication may be anidentifier identifying where to establish the communication, i.e., inWLAN or WWAN.

In some embodiments, indication that the network supports LTE and WLANinterworking may be provided, for example, in RRC, SIB or proberesponse, a WLAN carrier setup request message, or an associationresponse. In some embodiments, a request to establish LTE and WLANinterworking may be sent as part establishing a communication with aWLAN or WWAN.

FIG. 10 illustrates an example call flow 1000 for an associate procedurefor an eNB 122 to WLAN AP 306 over RRC, according to certain aspects ofthe present disclosure, with a numbered sequence of steps.

As illustrated, in some embodiments the UE 110 sends the Measurementreport message (step 1) using RRC over the RAN 130. Based on themeasurement report the eNB 122 may determine to initiate the LTE andWLAN 306 interworking procedures. Alternatively, there are any number oftriggers that may be used to initiate the LTE and WLAN interworkingprocedures, such as the UE sending the authentication request in step 4or UE reporting WLAN quality via WLAN measurements, such as IEEE802.11k.

The eNB 122 may send an RRCConnectionReconfiguration message (step 3) tothe UE. In one embodiment, the message includes a list of DRBs to beoffloaded (step 2). The list of DRBs may include a correspondingidentifier to be used by the UE on WLAN for the DRB. For example, if theUE uses a VLAN ID or GRE tunnel to send the bearer traffic, then thelist of DRBs may include a corresponding a VLAN ID or GRE key for eachoffloaded bearer.

In step 4, the UE may perform authentication with the WLAN AP. It may benoted that the additional authentication procedures after step 5 are notshown, but any of various supported WLAN security mechanisms may bereused.

In step 5, after successful authentication, the UE may associate withthe WLAN AP. As part of the association procedures, the UE may includethe corresponding identity of the UE in LTE. Similarly, the associationprocedures may include a negotiation on the corresponding identifiers ofthe EPS bearers that are being sent over WLAN, e.g., a mapping of the LCID to the corresponding identifier used in WLAN such as a VLAN ID or GREkey corresponding to each LC ID.

In step 6, the UE sends a RRCConnectionReconfigurationComplete messageto the eNB 122 to indicate that the association was successful.

In step 7 a, for non-seamless WLAN Offload (NSWO), the UE sends a DHCPv4request as per IETF RFC 2131 [11], or DHCPv6 request as per IETF RFC3315 [12] to the WLAN AP to receive an IP address. In step 7 b, the WLANAP responds with a DHCPAck including the IP address to use at the localnetwork. The UE may report a WLAN MAC address and an LTE IP address. Thenetwork may assign the same IP configuration to the WLAN interface, asrecognized via matching the WLAN MAC address.

In step 8 a, for IPv6, the UE performs router discover by sending aRouter Solicitation message. And in step 8 b, the WLAN AP replies with aRouter Solicitation message. The UE may then send data using the NSWO IPaddress.

In some embodiments, WLAN APs may be identified as target identifier,i.e., corresponding to a specific WLAN AP, or a group of WLAN APs, andtarget frequency, i.e., corresponding to a specific WLAN channel or aWLAN band. Target identifiers may be, but are not limited to: BSSID, tosearch for a specific WLAN AP, e.g., in the case of a collocated WLAN AP306 and eNB 122 (it may be noted that BSSID is used to identify anindividual AP, whereas the other measurement targets are used toidentify an ESS); SSID, to search for a specific SSID which mayrepresent a WLAN service provider (SP); HESSID, to search for a specificHotspot SP included in the Interworking IE (802.11u) as part of thebeacon or Probe Response (it may be noted that HESSID is more controlledthan SSID based search but assumes Hotspot support at the WLAN; and 3GPPCellular Network Info, to search for a specific PLMN (802.11u). Targetfrequencies may be, but are not limited to, Operating class and Channelnumber.

FIG. 11 illustrates example operations 1100 for confirming identity of aUE registered at both a WLAN and WWAN, according to certain aspects ofthe present disclosure. The operations may be performed, for example, bya base station (BS) 132 of either network (e.g., a WLAN AP 306 or an LTEeNB 122).

At 1102, the base station 132 establishes communications with a firstUE, wherein the UE is identified by a first set of one or moreidentifiers in a wide area wireless network (WWAN) and by a second setof one or more identifiers in a wide local area network (WLAN). At 1104,the base station 132 determines, based on the first and second set ofidentifiers, a UE connected to the WWAN and WLAN is the first UE.

FIG. 12 illustrates example operations 1200 for secure wirelesscommunications, according to certain aspects of the present disclosure.The operations may be performed, for example, by a UE. The operations1200 begin, at 1202, by establishing communications with a wide areawireless network (WWAN) and a wide local area network (WLAN), whereinthe UE is identified by a first set of one or more identifiers in theWWAN and by a second set of one or more identifiers in the WLAN. At1204, the UE provides, when establishing communications with a first oneof the WWAN or WLAN, a set of identifiers allowing the other of the WWANor WLAN to identify the UE.

As discussed above, while establishing association with the UE, the eNB122 may determine that WWAN and WLAN interworking capability issupported, which may be at the RAN 130 or at the CN 302. In someembodiments, the determination may be provided during registration withthe WWAN. In some embodiments, the eNB 122 may send the UE an indicationdirecting the UE to associate with a WWAN and WLAN, if the eNB 122determines that WLAN and WWAN interworking is supported as a capability.In some embodiments, the indication may be sent via RRC signaling, SIB,probe response, or an association response. RRC WLAN interworkingconnection setup procedure may enable the eNB 122 to determinecorresponding the WLAN MAC ID of the UE and the types of interworkingsupported by the UE.

In some embodiments, the UE may provide its WLAN MAC address as part ofthe UE capabilities procedures to configure the LTE UE and WLAN STAmapping on the eNB 122. As part of the capabilities, the UE may alsoindicate the UE's support of the different types of WLAN and LTEinterworking such as at the CN 302 or in the RAN 130.

FIG. 13 illustrates example call flow 1300 for eNB 122 initiated radioresource control (RRC) UE capability handling procedures, according tocertain aspects of the present disclosure. FIG. 13 shows RRC proceduresfor enabling LTE and WLAN RAN interworking.

As seen in FIG. 13, the eNB 122 may forward a RRC: UECapabilityEnquirymessage to the UE. In some embodiments, the UECapabilityEnquiry messagemay indicate a request to include WLAN capabilities as an additionalRAT-type. In response to receiving the UECapabilityEnquiry message, theUE may respond with a UECapabilityInformation message. In the exampleembodiments, the UECapabilityInformation message may include the UEradio access capabilities for WLAN within a UECapabilityRATContainerwith the RAT-type set to WLAN.

According to certain standards (e.g., in TS 36.300), the MME 126 storesthe UE Radio Capabilities that are forwarded by the eNB 122 in theS1-AP: UE Capability Information Indication message. For example, theeNB 122 may acquire the UE capabilities after a handover completion.When the UE establishes a connection, the MME 126 may include the lastreceived UE capabilities as part of the S1-AP: Initial Context SetupRequest message sent to the eNB 122. During handover preparation, thesource RAN node may transfer the UE source RAT capabilities and thetarget RAT capabilities to the target RAN node, in order to minimizeinterruptions. In TS 36.300, possible RAT-types include EUTRAN, UTRAN,GERAN-PS, GERAN-CS, CDMA2000-1×RTT.

In one proposed changed, RAT-type information element may be updated toinclude WLAN capabilities. The WLAN RAT-type information element may beused to convey UE WLAN Radio Access Capability Parameters to thenetwork. In some embodiments, the UE-WLAN-Capability field descriptionfor CN-interworking may be set to “supported” if the UE supports a CNLTE and WLAN interworking. The field description for RAN-interworkingmay be set to “supported” if the UE supports a RAN LTE and WLANinterworking.

Several aspects of a telecommunications system have been presentedherein with reference to a WLAN and LTE system. As those skilled in theart will readily appreciate, various aspects described throughout thisdisclosure may be extended to other telecommunication systems, networkarchitectures and communication standards. By way of example, variousaspects may be extended to other UMTS systems such as W-CDMA, High SpeedDownlink Packet Access (HSDPA), High Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA),High Speed Packet Access Plus (HSPA+) and TD-CDMA. Various aspects mayalso be extended to systems employing Long Term Evolution (LTE) (in FDD,TDD, or both modes), LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) (in FDD, TDD, or both modes),CDMA2000, Evolution-Data Optimized (EV-DO), Ultra Mobile Broadband(UMB), IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX), IEEE 802.20,Ultra-Wideband (UWB), Bluetooth, and/or other suitable systems. Theactual telecommunication standard, network architecture, and/orcommunication standard employed will depend on the specific applicationand the overall design constraints imposed on the system.

Several processors have been described in connection with variousapparatuses and methods. These processors may be implemented usingelectronic hardware, computer software, or any combination thereof.Whether such processors are implemented as hardware or software willdepend upon the particular application and overall design constraintsimposed on the system. By way of example, a processor, any portion of aprocessor, or any combination of processors presented in this disclosuremay be implemented with a microprocessor, microcontroller, digitalsignal processor (DSP), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), aprogrammable logic device (PLD), a state machine, gated logic, discretehardware circuits, and other suitable processing components configuredto perform the various functions described throughout this disclosure.The functionality of a processor, any portion of a processor, or anycombination of processors presented in this disclosure may beimplemented with software being executed by a microprocessor,microcontroller, DSP or other suitable platform.

Software shall be construed broadly to mean instructions, instructionsets, code, code segments, program code, programs, subprograms, softwaremodules, applications, software applications, software packages,routines, subroutines, objects, executables, threads of execution,procedures, functions, etc., whether referred to as software, firmware,middleware, microcode, hardware description language, or otherwise. Thesoftware may reside on a computer-readable medium. A computer-readablemedium may include, by way of example, memory such as a magnetic storagedevice (e.g., hard disk, floppy disk, magnetic strip), an optical disk(e.g., compact disc (CD), digital versatile disc (DVD)), a smart card, aflash memory device (e.g., card, stick, key drive), random access memory(RAM), read only memory (ROM), programmable ROM (PROM), erasable PROM(EPROM), electrically erasable PROM (EEPROM), a register, or a removabledisk. Although memory is shown separate from the processors in thevarious aspects presented throughout this disclosure, the memory may beinternal to the processors (e.g., cache or register).

Computer-readable media may be embodied in a computer-program product.By way of example, a computer-program product may include acomputer-readable medium in packaging materials. Those skilled in theart will recognize how best to implement the described functionalitypresented throughout this disclosure depending on the particularapplication and the overall design constraints imposed on the overallsystem.

It is to be understood that the specific order or hierarchy of steps inthe methods disclosed is an illustration of exemplary processes. Basedupon design preferences, it is understood that the specific order orhierarchy of steps in the methods may be rearranged. The accompanyingmethod claims present elements of the various steps in a sample order,and are not meant to be limited to the specific order or hierarchypresented unless specifically recited therein.

The previous description is provided to enable any person skilled in theart to practice the various aspects described herein. Variousmodifications to these aspects will be readily apparent to those skilledin the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied toother aspects. Thus, the claims are not intended to be limited to theaspects shown herein, but is to be accorded the full scope consistentwith the language of the claims, wherein reference to an element in thesingular is not intended to mean “one and only one” unless specificallyso stated, but rather “one or more.” Unless specifically statedotherwise, the term “some” refers to one or more. A phrase referring to“at least one of” a list of items refers to any combination of thoseitems, including single members. As an example, “at least one of: a, b,or c” is intended to cover: a; b; c; a and b; a and c; b and c; and a, band c. All structural and functional equivalents to the elements of thevarious aspects described throughout this disclosure that are known orlater come to be known to those of ordinary skill in the art areexpressly incorporated herein by reference and are intended to beencompassed by the claims. Moreover, nothing disclosed herein isintended to be dedicated to the public regardless of whether suchdisclosure is explicitly recited in the claims. No claim element is tobe construed under the provisions of 35 U.S.C. § 112, sixth paragraph,unless the element is expressly recited using the phrase “means for” or,in the case of a method claim, the element is recited using the phrase“step for.”

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for wireless communications by a userequipment (UE), comprising: receiving a first set of one or moreidentifiers from an access point that identify the UE in a wide localarea network (WLAN), wherein the UE is identified by the first set ofone or more identifiers in the WLAN; providing an indication to a basestation of the first set of one or more identifiers that identify the UEin the WLAN during establishment of a connection with the base stationin a wide area wireless network (WWAN); and establishing the connectionwith the base station in the WWAN.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein thefirst set of one or more identifiers comprises a WLAN medium accesscontrol (MAC) address.
 3. The method of claim 1, further comprisingestablishing communications with WLAN, wherein the first set of one ormore identifiers are received from the AP in the WLAN during theestablishment of the communications with the WLAN.
 4. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising receiving a second set of one or moreidentifiers, from the WWAN, that identify the UE in the WWAN, whereinthe second set of one or more identifiers comprises a global uniquetemporary identification (GUTI), and wherein the UE is identified by thesecond set of one or more identifiers in the WWAN.
 5. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising: receiving a UE capability enquiry messagefrom the BS, wherein the first set of one or more identifiers isprovided to the BS in a UE capability information message in response tothe UE capability enquiry message.
 6. The method of claim 5, wherein thefirst set of one or more identifiers is transmitted in a first field ina UE-EUTRA-Capability information element (IE).
 7. The method of claim6, wherein the UE-EUTRA-Capability IE is transmitted in aUE-CapabilityRAT-Container.
 8. The method of claim 6, further comprisingproviding an indication of whether the UE supports long term evolution(LTE)-WLAN interworking in a second field in the UE-EUTRA-Capability IE.9. The method of claim 8, further comprising providing an indication ofwhether the UE supports LTE-WLAN radio access network (RAN)-interworkingor core network (CN)-interworking in the UE-EUTRA-Capability IE.
 10. Themethod of claim 8, further comprising providing one or more WLAN radioaccess capability parameters in the UE-EUTRA-Capability IE.
 11. Anapparatus for wireless communications, comprising: means for receiving afirst set of one or more identifiers from an access point that identifythe apparatus in a wide local area network (WLAN), wherein the apparatusis identified by the first set of one or more identifiers in the WLAN;means for providing an indication to a base station of the first set ofone or more identifiers that identify the apparatus in the WLAN duringestablishment of a connection with the base station in a wide areawireless network (WWAN); and means for establishing the connection withthe base station in the WWAN.
 12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein thefirst set of one or more identifiers comprises a WLAN medium accesscontrol (MAC) address.
 13. The apparatus of claim 11, further comprisingmeans for establishing communications with WLAN, wherein the first setof one or more identifiers are received from the AP in the WLAN duringthe establishment of the communications with the WLAN.
 14. The apparatusof claim 11, further comprising means for receiving a second set of oneor more identifiers, from the WWAN, that identify the UE in the WWAN,wherein the second set of one or more identifiers comprises a globalunique temporary identification (GUTI), and wherein the apparatus isidentified by the second set of one or more identifiers in the WWAN. 15.The apparatus of claim 11, further comprising: means for receiving acapability enquiry message from the BS, wherein the first set of one ormore identifiers is provided to the BS in a capability informationmessage in response to the capability enquiry message.
 16. The apparatusof claim 15, wherein the first set of one or more identifiers istransmitted in a first field in a UE-EUTRA-Capability informationelement (IE).
 17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein theUE-EUTRA-Capability IE is transmitted in a UE-CapabilityRAT-Container.18. The apparatus of claim 16, further comprising means for providing anindication of whether the apparatus supports long term evolution(LTE)-WLAN interworking in a second field in the UE-EUTRA-Capability IE.19. The apparatus of claim 18, further comprising means for providing anindication of whether the apparatus supports LTE-WLAN radio accessnetwork (RAN)-interworking or core network (CN)-interworking in theUE-EUTRA-Capability IE.
 20. The apparatus of claim 18, furthercomprising means for providing one or more WLAN radio access capabilityparameters in the UE-EUTRA-Capability IE.
 21. An apparatus for wirelesscommunications, comprising: at least one receiver configured to receivea first set of one or more identifiers from an access point thatidentify the apparatus in a wide local area network (WLAN), wherein theapparatus is identified by the first set of one or more identifiers inthe WLAN; a transmitter configured to provide an indication to a basestation of the first set of one or more identifiers that identify theapparatus in the WLAN during establishment of a connection with the basestation in a wide area wireless network (WWAN); and at least oneprocessor coupled with a memory and configured to establish theconnection with the base station in the WWAN.
 22. The apparatus of claim21, wherein the first set of one or more identifiers comprises a WLANmedium access control (MAC) address.
 23. The apparatus of claim 21,wherein the at least one processor is further configured to establishcommunications with WLAN, wherein the first set of one or moreidentifiers are received from the AP in the WLAN during theestablishment of the communications with the WLAN.
 24. The apparatus ofclaim 21, wherein the at least one receiver is further configured toreceive a second set of one or more identifiers, from the WWAN, thatidentify the UE in the WWAN, wherein the second set of one or moreidentifiers comprises a global unique temporary identification (GUTI),and wherein the apparatus is identified by the second set of one or moreidentifiers in the WWAN.
 25. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the atleast one receiver is further configured to receive a capability enquirymessage from the BS, wherein the first set of one or more identifiers isprovided to the BS in a capability information message in response tothe capability enquiry message.
 26. The apparatus of claim 25, whereinthe first set of one or more identifiers is transmitted in a first fieldin a UE-EUTRA-Capability information element (IE).
 27. The apparatus ofclaim 26, wherein the UE-EUTRA-Capability IE is transmitted in aUE-CapabilityRAT-Container.
 28. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein thetransmitter is further configured to provide an indication of whetherthe apparatus supports long term evolution (LTE)-WLAN interworking in asecond field in the UE-EUTRA-Capability IE.
 29. The apparatus of claim28, wherein the transmitter is further configured to provide one or moreWLAN radio access capability parameters in the UE-EUTRA-Capability IE.30. A computer readable medium having computer executable code storedthereon for wireless communications, comprising: code for receiving afirst set of one or more identifiers from an access point that identifythe apparatus in a wide local area network (WLAN), wherein the apparatusis identified by the first set of one or more identifiers in the WLAN;code for providing an indication to a base station of the first set ofone or more identifiers that identify the apparatus in the WLAN duringestablishment of a connection with the base station in a wide areawireless network (WWAN); and code for establishing the connection withthe base station in the WWAN.